Текст книги " Blood Legacy"

Автор книги: Michael A. Stackpole

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Hanse dismissed Clovis with a nod, then shook his head in mild disbelief. "Your daughter and my son becoming friends. Who would have believed it?"

"Shakespeare?" Justin offered casually.

Everyone laughed briefly, then sobered as their initial embarrassment wore off. "I have spoken with Omi about her friendship with your son. Apparently, they are only friends, not yet lovers. She has obediently offered to break off all communication with Victor and to atone for any dishonor her actions may have brought to House Kurita."

Theodore's blue eyes flicked at Kai. "That is exactly what I would have required if Hohiro had not told me of his conversation with Kai. Kai believes that my daughter and your son offer one another an otherwise nonexistent opportunity of spending time with a peer. It is true that they cannot simply be themselves with most people they encounter. I managed it, but only because my father all but disowned me. That freed me to meet a woman with whom I fell deeply in love."

Hanse's eyes focused distantly and a smile tugged at his lips, then he returned just as swiftly to the here and now. "Though I gained my bride in different circumstances, I have found with her a deep union beyond title or bloodline. There were thousands of women more than willing to bear Davion heirs, but only one I wanted."

"Yes." Theodore looked a bit uncomfortable. "And if your wife is the least bit like mine, she will make you pay dearly if we interfere in this budding relationship."

Hanse sighed heavily. "I'd rather spend a day with Romano Liao than a minute with Melissa if she were to get wind that I'd done something to cause a break between Victor and Omi. If Victor is happy, so is she."

"But we both agree that it would be a disaster if they fell in love. We could never allow their union to be consummated or legitimized."

"Absolutely not!" Hanse massaged his forehead with his left hand. "The Draconis March would figure it was Victor's brideprice gift to you, and the religious nightmares of such a wedding would be the death of me."

"There is a silver lining to the idea," Kai offered. Hanse and Theodore looked at him with surprise. "Considering what happened at the last big state wedding, at least you know Romano Liao wouldn't show up."

Hanse and Theodore looked at one another, then broke out laughing. Justin chuckled, too, but shook his head reprovingly at his son. Kai waited for the laughter to die. "I am not trying to speak for Victor," he said, "but I know him pretty well. I can assure you, Kanrei, that he has nothing but the utmost respect for Omi. Given half a chance, I know he could fall for her, but it isn't a very realistic possibility. The two of them getting together would certainly strengthen the united front we want to present the Clans, but I would agree that such a union would prove internally divisive. The point is, they're not going to have any more time together after we all leave this planet. They'll probably exchange holodisks and personal confidences if you'll allow it, but I think both are more than aware of the futility of their situation."

Hanse weighed Kai's words carefully. "You're saying that they have chosen not to let the hopelessness of their situation spoil their friendship here?"

"That's what I think. When are they ever likely to meet i one another again face to face?"

Theodore shook his head. "In all likelihood, never." He looked at Hanse. "I am not adverse to allowing our children to continue their acquaintance. Shall we allow them to correspond?"

"Knowing how it feels to get any mail at all at the front, I would be most pleased if Omi wished to communicate with my son. I see no difficulty with that." Hanse paused, again seeming to gaze into some other time, either distant past or future. "Ah, Theodore," he said finally, "can you imagine, a Davion-Kurita wedding?"

"It would be a Kurita-Davion wedding, Prince Davion," Theodore laughed. "Your Draconis March would secede and my father would have me assassinated." His smile turned rueful. "But who knows, if the Clans do us enough damage, we might just have to let fate play its part and let our children pick up the pieces."

25

Wolf's Dragoons General Headquarters, Outreach

Sarna March, Federated Commonwealth

23 September 3051

 

Victor Davion smiled broadly to see her slipping into the night-shrouded garden. "Komban-wa,Omiko– san."

"Arigato gozaimas,Victor-san." She lowered her eyes and bowed to him. "Your Japanese has so improved."

"I've had an excellent teacher and more than enough motivation to study hard." She started to blush and look away, but he reached out and gently took her chin in his right hand. "I say that not to flatter you, but because it is true."

She took his hand in hers and kissed the palm. "I have had a most willing student." Omi looked up abruptly as a distant roar intruded on the stillness of the garden, overpowering the whirring of crickets. Then the night sky lit up as a bulbous metal form rose slowly on a brilliant torch. The DropShip's flame burnished golden highlights onto Omi's smooth skin and hair.

"The only way I could come to the garden unescorted was because my ISF chaperone believes you are aboard that ship. Until I got your note, I thought we would have no chance to say goodbye." She looked at Victor warily. "From your father, you have inherited the cunning of the Fox, and from your cousin Morgan, you inherit the courage of the Lion.

Won't there be trouble when they find you are not onboard the ship?"

Victor shook his head. "No. Kai convinced the pilot that he and I had to attend a last-minute briefing. He's off saying goodbye to his family and I am here with you. We'll take a shuttle up and reach the ship in a half a day."

"How fortunate to have such a resourceful friend."

"He's not the only friend I'm lucky to have." Victor sighed heavily. "I suppose your father spoke to you about us, as my father did with me?"

She nodded solemnly, and Victor was glad she had let her black hair hang down over the shoulders of her green silken kimono. "My father tried to be most reasonable. He told me we might communicate with one another, but I suspect he gave in on that point because he knew he could not stop us. He seems terrified that you and I would fall in love."

Victor grinned unabashedly. "That's roughly the same read I got from my father. Kai says they joked about a romance and possible marriage between us. But he also said that despite their dread of the political problems, it seemed that either one would cut off his own arm before causing his child unhappiness."

Omi's eyes half-shut. "So, Victor Davion, are we falling in love?"

Victor started to speak, then clamped his mouth shut. Omi intrigued him more than any woman ever had and he also found her immeasurably desirable. But is this love, or am I infatuated because I can never have her?He looked down. "Omi-san,"he teased, "perhaps I'll be the last to know."

He brought his eyes up to meet hers. "I do care for you, very deeply. Part of me wants to say I love you, but I don't know if I have the strength to shoulder all that would imply. I'm also afraid that if I said yes, and we were to become lovers, I would lose you as a friend."

Omi smiled tenderly at that. "Your confusion mirrors mine. I know that part of your allure is a fascination with the forbidden. But you also have great heart and a quick mind. You are not afraid to say what you think and you do not suffer fools who seek you out because of your title. These qualities I rarely see beyond my family in the Draconis Combine, and that is why I think I could be very happy with you as either friend or lover.

"But, as you say, to fall in love would also present us with a whole host of problems."

"Your grandfather would refuse to come to the wedding and mine would be spinning in his grave! Ryan Steiner would accuse me of selling Skye to the Combine and the Draconis March would try to join with Free Rasalhague so I'd not cede half of it to your father."

Her laughter buoyed Victor's spirits. It was so easy to be with her and talk to her in a way that would shock others who would take these matters oh-so-seriously. In public, he could start a war by saying that he thought Sun-Tzu Liao was an ass, but with Omi he risked no such interstellar incident. And if not for her, he'd never have come even close to beginning to understand Hohiro.

Omi coiled a lock of dark hair around her finger. "Any pregnancy would have to produce twins and we would have to say they were both born at the same time or risk a war over which child was heir to which throne. It would be a nightmare."

"Not a path to be taken lightly."

Before she could reply, another voice pierced the night. "Omi?"

Recognizing it instantly as Hohiro's, Victor sank back into the shadows. The lights from the building silhouetted Omi's brother as she turned to face him. "Hai,Hohiro-san?"

"Oh, you are alone." Hohiro looked around, but gave no sign he saw anything amiss. "I came looking for you because I saw Kai Allard down near the shuttle bay. He had been forbidden to leave the shuttle area so he asked me to seek out a friend of his. Kai said they had been 'busted' and faced serious disciplinary action if they did not report to their ship immediately."

Victor knew Hohiro addressed his sister in English for his benefit. Omi obviously understood this, too, because she replied, "I think, if he were here, Kai's friend would thank you very much. If I see Kai's friend, I will pass the message on to him."

"Good, I would not like to see him in trouble. You might add that I, Hohiro Kurita, am betting him ten ounces of gold per enemy 'Mech that I claim more enemy kills than he."

Victor almost stepped from the shadows to accept that wager, but Omi raised her hand to stop her brother's words. "And I tell you, Hohiro, that I would be most saddened if either one of you died because of such a bet. You wager far more than gold in this war against the Clans. It is the future of the Inner Sphere that is at stake. Work together as you have here, and we all shall win."

Hohiro gave his sister a short bow of respect, then retreated from the garden. Omi waited for the sound of his footsteps to fade away, then turned back to Victor. "You heard?"

Victor abandoned his shadowy sanctuary. "Yes. I have to go."

"Wait." From around her neck, Omi pulled an oval-shaped piece of bronze on a leather thong. She held it out to Victor. In the half-light he saw Japanese symbols and realized it was a dragon biting its own tail. The center of the bronze had a square hole in it, through which the thong had been looped to let the medallion hang lengthwise, but Omi slipped it off the leather before placing it in Victor's hands.

"This is a swordguard, isn't it?"

"Hai."Omi nodded. "It and a swordsman's skill are all that saves him from an enemy. You have the skills of a warrior, but I want you to have this, too."

"Domo arigato."Victor smiled and slipped it into his pocket. "I will keep it with me." He shrugged helplessly. "I regret that I have nothing to give you."

She reached out and caressed his right cheek. "Give me your promise that you will be safe."

'That is the one thing I cannotpromise you," he said.

Her voice returned stronger. "Give me your promise and it will be so."

Victor stepped closer and slipped his arms around her slender waist. "Yes, Omi, I promise."

His mouth found hers, and though their kiss was brief, the warmth of it stayed with Victor long after he had left the garden and Outreach and Omi behind.

26

DropShip Dire Wolf

Nadir Jump Point Engadin, Wolf Clan Occupation Zone

15 October 3051

 

Phelan Wolf heard a hiss as the ComStar shuttlecraft cracked its hatch. The boxy yellow ship had touched down lightly in a shuttle bay manned by Elementals in their armor. Once the Dire Wolf'shatch was secured, the Techs provided the bay with a breathable atmosphere and Phelan entered through an access port on the deck level.

The shuttle's hatch twisted sideways, then slid into the interior of the ship. A short ramp telescoped out and down, but even before it had touched the deck, the Precentor Martial appeared in the hatchway. Tall enough that he had to dip his white-maned head to get through it, the ComStar envoy steadied himself with a strong grip on either side of the opening. His long white robe was loosely belted at the waist with a piece of white rope. The only other color on him was the black of the patch covering his empty right eye socket.

The Precentor Martial smiled at the sight of Phelan, and the MechWarrior returned the smile heartily. He met the older man at the base of the gangway and offered him his right hand. The Precentor Martial accepted it in both hands and shook it firmly.

"It appears, Phelan Kell, that you have fared well since we said our goodbyes on this very deck."

"That I have, Precentor Martial." Phelan directed two bondsmen to haul Focht's baggage to his room. "I was adopted into the Wolf Clan Warrior caste just after you left. I am known as Phelan Wolf."

Focht bowed his head. "Please excuse my ignorance and accept my congratulations. If I remember the symbolism correctly, the red star patch on your shoulder means you are a MechWarrior as well?"

The younger man nodded. "For about three months now. This black and red jumpsuit is the uniform of my regiment. Officially, we are the Thirteenth Wolf Guards, otherwise known as the Wolf Spiders."

"And led by Natasha Kerensky herself."

Phelan chuckled lightly. "You don't miss a trick, do you?"

"ComStar knows all." Focht smiled enough for Phelan to know he was making a joke, but the young MechWarrior suspected the statement was not far from the mark. "Natasha's passage from Outreach was noted by some of our waystations, so we assumed she had made contact with the Clans. We took that as confirmation that the Dragoons were once part of the Clans, though that alliance no longer appears to be in force."

"I believe the history is correct, but I do not know the Dragoons' current status." Phelan waved the Precentor Martial toward the exit port. "As much as I am enjoying talking with you and look forward to another such opportunity, the ilKhan has asked me to escort you to him immediately upon your arrival. If you don't mind."

"Not at all." Focht adjusted the patch over his right eye. "I am most pleased to see you have been made a MechWarrior." His voice dropped to a discreet whisper. "It should make it much easier to gather information, as we discussed a year ago."

Phelan chewed his lower lip. "I know I agreed to spy for you, but that was before. Much has happened since then. I am afraid I cannot betray the Clans."

Focht looked surprised. "Cannot? Phelan, these people are still attacking your home."

The MechWarrior shook his head. "These people are now my people, and this is my home."

"I see." Focht looked hard at Phelan, who felt as though he were being x-rayed. "I should have expected this. Converts are always more zealous than someone born to a cause."

"As well you would know, Precentor." Phelan's face closed up. "Before I was thrown out of the Nagelring, I do not recall seeing any ComStar initiates studying there. That means you had a life before ComStar, which makes you, too, a convert."

They continued down the corridor in silence until they reached an elevator tube. Focht broke the silence. "Even as a convert to ComStar, I have been willing to bend the rules, for a friend."

Phelan's head snapped around. "You sent my parents a message about me?" He felt his pulse begin to pound as images of his family and friends began to float before his inner eye. Then and there he realized no matter how fully he accepted the Clans as his new family and friends, he could never let go of the people he had known before. This concern for both sides is what the ilKhan wants from me. Natasha and I both have loyalties to the Clans and to the Inner Sphere. Are we here to temper the Clans in their fight?

Focht waited until they had entered the elevator and Phelan had it moving toward the bridge. "The Primus forbade me to tell your family anything about you, so I tried to get around it by sending a kind of coded message to your father. I used a famous quote by the ancient writer Mark Twain about the exaggerated reports of his death, hoping he'd be able to puzzle it out eventually. But that was the best I could do."

"Thank you." Phelan picked distractedly at a fingernail. "But I know nothing of importance to tell you, Precentor. Natasha is a Khan of the Wolves and Ulric's election as ilKhan was not without surprises. His enemies agreed to elect him ilKhan, believing they could manipulate him, but he quickly set them straight. As for his invasion plans, he has confided nothing to me."

"Ulric is a very wise man. I have no doubt that whatever he has planned for the Inner Sphere will be most challenging.

The elevator stopped and the door opened onto a darkened corridor. Phelan led the way toward the bridge, remembering this same scene nearly a year before when the ship had been damaged in a battle. He looked at the Precentor Martial over his shoulder. "You know, running to the bridge after the Rasalhague ship hit us, I never believed we would find anyone alive."

Focht half-closed his good eye. "If not for your quick thinking and that tool you had created to open the lock, no one would have survived."

"Funny how things work out, isn't it?"

"The irony of the universe has not escaped me."

The two Elementals standing on either side of the hatch to the bridge gave no clue that they saw or cared about Phelan conducting the Precentor Martial in to see the ilKhan. Manning the various stations on the bridge were some two score crew members. Despite their brand new equipment and the routine way they seemed to go about their tasks, Phelan felt a shiver down his spine. His eyes flew up to where a catastrophic hole had been ripped in the hull, but nothing remained to show it had ever been there.

He guided Focht forward to a central area enclosed by a circular palisade of black panels. Slipping into the holotank through one of the four openings, they came immediately into the midst of a holographic space map. Star pinpoints large and small burned brightly, and the names of many were identified by floating labels.

At the heart of the galaxy, Ulric stood talking with Natasha Kerensky. He looked up and smiled at Focht, but waited until Natasha had finished speaking before he moved to welcome his guest. The look of pleasure on Ulric's face was in stark antithesis to Natasha's dark expression.

The ilKhan offered the Precentor Martial his right hand. "I am most pleased your Primus has sent you to us again."

Focht shook Ulric's hand heartily. "And I am happy to return. The Primus asks me to advise you that ComStar offers all the support at its disposal."

"Excellent." Ulric half-turned and waved Natasha forward. 'This is Natasha Kerensky, formerly of the Wolf Dragoons."

"And now in command of the Thirteenth Wolf Guards." Focht took her right hand and kissed it. "You are even more beautiful than I remember, Colonel Kerensky."

Natasha's expression turned arctic with suspicion. "We've met before?"

The Precentor Martial shrugged. "It was a lifetime ago. You'd not remember me, for I was but one of many warriors who dreaded fighting against your Black Widows but dreamed of fighting with them."

Natasha withdrew her hand from his. "And I thought ComStar's Precentor Martial would be nothing more than a eunuch in a seraglio. You have charm and wit, yet are modest. A most dangerous combination, indeed."

Focht raised his hands in protest. "I am not here as an enemy, Colonel. I am here to help."

"That is a very good thing, Precentor," said Ulric, taking control of the conversation, "because our strategy has shifted." The ilKhan reached out to touch the glowing dot at the end of one star's name tag. Instandy, the label expanded to become a scrolling window of data. From where Phelan stood, he only saw the letters in reverse through the body of the translucent computer projection. That hardly mattered, for he'd studied enough world reports to know it was providing as timely information as the Clans had about the military forces on that planet.

"I will need you to provide very accurate and up-to-date information on the worlds we choose to hit. Instead of continuing to roll forward like a blanket, we are going to cherry-pick worlds. We will target the most heavily defended worlds in a sector, bypassing and cutting off lesser worlds. We hope that when the key worlds fall, the disruptive elements of the bypassed worlds will flee, allowing us to scoop up those planets with little or no struggle."

Focht nodded thoughtfully. "Getting the data should present no problem at all, provided you can give me a list of worlds you want to hit within two weeks of your attack. I do not need that much time to gather the information, you understand, but it gives my people the lead time to prepare for the aftermath of your invasion and the period of pacification."

"Fine." Ulric positioned his hand at the bottom of the window and pushed up. The computer sucked the data window back up into the label. "We want to force the Inner Sphere militaries to concentrate their forces, which should stop their attacks on worlds behind the lines. It will also be more of a challenge for our forces. With the addition of three more Clans to bolster those that have not fared as well as the Wolves, we must provide opportunities for glory in battle."

"Then the suggestion I had in mind might not be welcome."

"Speak freely. Nothing is forged of titanium as of yet."

The Precentor Martial pointed to a relatively minor world. "I thought it might be possible to use the offices of ComStar to negotiate the surrender of worlds you do not attack. This places us as a buffer between you and the populace, making implementation of pacification policies all the easier. If the negotiations fall through, you can still hit the world with whatever force you choose."

"A kind of 'carrot and PPC approach to world conquest, eh, Precentor?"

"A most interesting turn of phrase, Colonel Kerensky." Focht clasped his hands behind his back. "I offer this idea merely with the thought of speeding your ability to secure your rear area. Politicians are not warriors. They often gladly give away what an army could not take in a millennia."

Ulric laughed politely. "Point well-taken, Precentor, and one spoken like a warrior. To call a politician untrustworthy is redundant, and to call one honest is a contradiction in terms. However, anyone who is aware of how the politics of a situation might affect him can sail through the obstacles."

"Good charts, strong ships, and a sextant have made it possible to weather more than one storm," Focht said amiably. "If you do not mind, I would welcome a chance to rest a bit before we continue."

"A splendid idea. Natasha and I have some things to discuss before we can decide on potential targets." Ulric escorted the Precentor Martial to the edge of the holotank. "Phelan will take you to your cabin. We can meet later for dinner. In say, four hours. We should be prepared to give you the names of some worlds for study by then."

Focht bowed his head. "I am your humble servant, ilKhan Ulric. The Peace of Blake be with you."